Sen. Michael Bennet, a former DPS superintendent, had many ideas incorporated into No Child Left Behind legislation introduced Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — Picking off ideas from his time running Denver Public Schools, Sen. Michael Bennet had more than a half dozen ideas incorporated into the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, including tying new teacher licensing to how good they are and increasing flexibility so school districts can decide how to use federal dollars.

The bipartisan legislation was introduced by Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Republican Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming Tuesday.

The federal education reform law is 10 years-old and many educators agree it needs to improve. Bennet has introduced a half dozen education bills in this Congress and co-sponsored another 11.

Much of that work is incorporated into this larger package, including a bill introduced by both Bennet and Sen. Mark Udall that looks at individual students’ academic growth from year to year – in addition to other standards – to help teachers see progress over time.

It caps a year-long effort, where Bennet canvassed the country visiting schools, penned Op-Eds in newspapers across the country, and opened up his office phone lines for teachers to call in with ideas.

“I know that well-intentioned ideas from Washington often do not make sense by the time they reach the classroom,” Bennet said. “States like Colorado that have been on the cutting edge of reform have been hampered by NCLB, and I will fight to keep the provisions in this bill that support Colorado.”

He also hopes the law makes it easier for Colorado’s teachers and principals to carry out state laws already on the books. Colorado has a growth model in place that tracks students — the law is on the cutting edge nationally — and federal standards have tusseled with what the state is trying to put into place.

The mammoth legislation gets an airing this week in the U.S. Senate. A vote for final passage is subject to the U.S. Senate’s speed — a slow moving body indeed — but the fact that it’s already garnered Republican and Democratic support makes Bennet’s folks hopeful that it will get it to the floor.